"Love Potion No. 9" | |
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Single by The Clovers | |
B-side | "Stay Awhile" |
Released | July 1959 |
Recorded | June 8, 1959 |
Studio | Capitol (New York City) |
Genre | Doo-wop |
Length | 2:02 |
Label | United Artists |
Songwriter(s) | Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller |
Official Audio | |
"Love Potion No. 9" on YouTube |
"Love Potion Number Nine" | ||||
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Single by The Searchers | ||||
from the album Meet the Searchers | ||||
B-side | "Hi-Heel Sneakers" | |||
Released | November 1964 | |||
Studio | Pye Studios, London, England | |||
Genre | Rock and roll | |||
Length | 2:05 | |||
Label | Kapp KJB-27 | |||
Songwriter(s) | Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller | |||
Producer(s) | Tony Hatch | |||
The Searchers singles chronology | ||||
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Official Audio | ||||
"Love Potion No. 9" on YouTube |
"Love Potion No. 9" is a song written in 1959 by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. It was originally performed by the Clovers, [1] who took it to No.23 on the US as well as R&B charts that year. [2] [3] It reached #20 in Canada. [4]
The Searchers recorded it in 1964 and reached No.3 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and No.2 on Cash Box during the winter of 1965. [5]
Herb Alpert and The Tijuana Brass did an instrumental version (side 2, track 1) on his 1965 album Whipped Cream and Other Delights .
The Coasters released their take in December 1971 with "D. W. Washburn" on the B-side. It reached No.76 on the Billboard Pop chart and No.96 on the Cash Box chart.
It's also track 1 on the studio album Two Days Away , released in 1977 by Elkie Brooks and produced by the song's writers Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller.
The song describes a man seeking help to find love. He enlists the help of a Romani person who determines, by means of palmistry, that he needs "love potion number nine". The potion, an aphrodisiac, causes him to fall in love with everything he sees, kissing whatever is in front of him, eventually kissing a policeman on the street corner, who reacts by breaking his bottle of love potion.
In the LP release, at the ending of the song the Clovers used the alternative lyrics: [1]
This version was used in the film American Graffiti and released on the LP version of the soundtrack, but replaced by the single version on the CD release.
The song was the basic premise of the 1992 film of the same name starring Sandra Bullock and Tate Donovan.
Chart (1965) | Peak position |
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Canada Top Singles ( RPM ) [6] | 6 |
New Zealand (Lever Hit Parade) [7] | 4 |
US Billboard Hot 100 [8] | 3 |
US Cash Box Top 100 | 2 |
West Germany (Official German Charts) [9] | 23 |
The heavy metal band Tygers of Pan Tang recorded "Love Potion No. 9" in 1982. Their version charted in the UK, reaching No.45 in 1982. [10] The White Stripes covered it live at the Gold Dollar in Detroit, Michigan, on July 14, 1997, including the alternative ending lyrics; this version was released in 2012 on the EP "Live On Bastille Day". [11] In 2016 the song was performed by John Cooper Clarke and Hugh Cornwell for BBC 6 Music Live. [12] It was released as a single by indie rock band The Wallies in November 2019 and has also been covered by punk rock group The Queers on their 2021 album Reverberation. [13]
Rockapella also covered the song.
The Coasters are an American rhythm and blues/rock and roll vocal group who had a string of hits in the late 1950s. With hits including "Searchin'", "Young Blood", "Poison Ivy", and "Yakety Yak", their most memorable songs were written by the songwriting and producing team of Leiber and Stoller. Although the Coasters originated outside of mainstream doo-wop, their records were so frequently imitated that they became an important part of the doo-wop legacy through the 1960s. In 1987, they were the first group inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
"Stand by Me" is a song originally performed in 1961 by American singer-songwriter Ben E. King and written by him, along with Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who together used the pseudonym Elmo Glick. According to King, the title is derived from, and was inspired by, a spiritual written by Sam Cooke and J. W. Alexander called "Stand by Me Father," recorded by the Soul Stirrers with Johnnie Taylor singing lead.
"Jailhouse Rock" is a rock and roll song recorded by American singer Elvis Presley for the film of the same name. It was written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. RCA Victor released the song on a 45 rpm single on September 24, 1957, as the first single from the film's soundtrack EP. It reached the top of the charts in the U.S. and the top 10 in several other countries. The song has been recognized by the Grammy Hall of Fame, the American Film Institute, and others.
The Clovers are an American rhythm and blues/doo-wop vocal group who became one of the biggest selling acts of the 1950s. They had a top 30 US hit in 1959 with the Leiber and Stoller song "Love Potion No. 9".
"Crimson and Clover" is a 1968 song by American rock band Tommy James and the Shondells. Written by the duo of Tommy James and drummer Peter Lucia Jr., it was intended as a change in direction of the group's sound and composition.
"Spanish Harlem" is a song recorded by Ben E. King in 1960 for Atco Records. It was written by Jerry Leiber and Phil Spector and produced by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. "Spanish Harlem" was King's first hit away from The Drifters, peaking at number 15 on Billboard's rhythm and blues and number 10 in pop music chart.
"Ruby Tuesday" is a song recorded by the Rolling Stones in 1966, released in January 1967. The song became the band's fourth number-one hit in the United States and reached number three in the United Kingdom as a double A-side with "Let's Spend the Night Together". The song was included in the American version of Between the Buttons.
"River Deep – Mountain High" is a song by Ike & Tina Turner released on Philles Records as the title track to their 1966 studio album. Produced by Phil Spector and written by Spector, Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich. Rolling Stone ranked "River Deep – Mountain High" No. 33 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. NME ranked it No. 37 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame added it to the list of the 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll. The song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.
"Young Blood" is a song written by Doc Pomus along with the songwriting team Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller that first became a hit by The Coasters in 1957.
"Chapel of Love" is a song written by Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich and Phil Spector, and made famous by The Dixie Cups in 1964, spending three weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The song tells of the happiness and excitement the narrator feels on her wedding day, for she and her love are going to the "chapel of love", and "[they'll] never be lonely anymore." Many other artists have recorded the song.
"Dedicated To The One I Love" is a song written by Lowman Pauling and Ralph Bass that was a hit for the "5" Royales, the Shirelles, the Mamas & the Papas and Bitty McLean. Pauling was the guitarist of the "5" Royales, the group that recorded the original version of the song, produced by Bass, in 1957. Their version was re-released in 1961 and charted at number 81 on the Billboard Hot 100.
"Save the Last Dance for Me" is a song written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman, first recorded in 1960 by American musical group the Drifters with Ben E. King on lead vocals. It has since been covered by several artists, including Dalida, the DeFranco Family, Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton, and Michael Bublé.
"Go Now" is a song composed by Larry Banks and Milton Bennett and first recorded by Bessie Banks, released as a single in January 1964. The best-known version was recorded by the Moody Blues and released the same year.
"There Goes My Baby" is a song written by Ben E. King, Lover Patterson, George Treadwell and produced by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller for The Drifters. This was the first single by the second incarnation of the Drifters, who assumed the group name in 1958 after manager George Treadwell fired the remaining members of the original lineup. The Atlantic Records release was Ben E. King's debut recording as the lead singer of the group.
"To Know Him Is to Love Him" is a song written by Phil Spector, inspired by words on his father's tombstone, "To Know Him Was to Love Him." It was first recorded by the only vocal group of which he was a member, the Teddy Bears. Their recording spent three weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1958, while reaching No. 2 on the UK's New Musical Express chart. Peter & Gordon and Bobby Vinton later had hits with the song, with its title and lyrics changed to "To Know You Is to Love You". In 1987, the song was resurrected by Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, and Emmylou Harris, whose Trio recording topped the U.S. country singles chart.
"Is That All There Is?", a song written by American songwriting team Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller during the 1960s, became a hit for American singer Peggy Lee and an award winner from her album of the same title in November 1969. The song was originally performed by Georgia Brown in May 1967 for a television special. It was first recorded by disc jockey Dan Daniel in March 1968, but this was an unauthorized recording that, while played on Daniel's own radio show, went unissued at the songwriters' request. The first authorized recording was by Leslie Uggams in August 1968. Then came the hit Peggy Lee version in August 1969, followed by Guy Lombardo in 1969 and Tony Bennett on 22 December 1969.
The song "I'm a Woman" was written by famed songwriting duo Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, and was first recorded in 1962 by Christine Kittrell.
"I Keep Forgettin' (Every Time You're Near)" (also known as "I Keep Forgettin'") is a 1982 song by American singer-songwriter Michael McDonald, from his debut album If That's What It Takes (1982). It was written by McDonald and Ed Sanford. Released as a single, it peaked at No. 4 on the U.S. Billboard Pop Singles charts, #7 R&B and #8 on the Adult Contemporary chart.
"I (Who Have Nothing)" (sometimes billed as "I Who Have Nothing") is an English language cover of the Italian song "Uno dei Tanti" (English: "One of Many"), with music by Carlo Donida and lyrics by Giulio "Mogol" Rapetti. The initial version, "Uno dei Tanti", was performed by Joe Sentieri in 1961. The song first recorded in English by Ben E. King in 1963 with new lyrics by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller.
It's the Searchers is the third studio album by English rock band The Searchers. It features the band's famous hit singles "Needles and Pins" and "Don't Throw Your Love Away" as well as cover versions of some well known tracks originally recorded by Betty Everett, Carl Perkins, Don Gibson, The Drifters or Tommy Tucker. It was also the last Searchers album to feature singer Tony Jackson. The album peaked at No. 4 in the UK album chart.